


Going Down

by FinnKaenbyou



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen, The Yorigami Sisters Commit Car Insurance Fraud, secret agent AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 18:25:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14266953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FinnKaenbyou/pseuds/FinnKaenbyou
Summary: A rendezvous gone wrong leaves Mamizou in a sticky situation.(Standalone story in the same setting as Enhanced Interrogation.)





	Going Down

Mamizou wished the mafia would pick more convenient meeting places.

The tanuki wiped a line of sweat from her brow as she trudged up the cliff path, hauling a briefcase in one hand. She was miles out of the city, far enough that she could see the stars twinkling in the evening sky. Below her was a large lake, flickers of moonlight dancing across the water’s surface. The view was scenic, almost picturesque, but the business she’d be partaking in was anything but.

She’d been texted the instructions that morning. Be there at midnight, come alone, no weapons. Standard procedure in these circles, but it always made her uncomfortable. If her cover faltered for even a second, the consequences could be fatal. She went over her cover story one more time as the edge of the cliff came into view.

About fifty feet from the top sat a time-worn sedan, flecks of white paint crumbling off the sides. A pair of young woman stood behind the trunk – though ‘stood’ was a relative term, since one of them had feet which didn’t quite touch the ground. They both wore business suits, but one was considerably more patchwork than the other.

“Do we really have to do this, sis?” The floating girl pouted, hugging at her spindly frame. “I like this car. It’s my favourite.”

“That’s the problem, Shion.” The other girl rolled her eyes behind a pair of designer sunglasses. “You’ve infected this car with your poverty. My wallet’s getting lighter just looking at it.”

“Isn’t that because you keep buying stuff we don’t need?” Shion poked at her sister’s purse. “And you don’t even share any of it.”

The older sister sighed. “Look, if I promise to buy you a new car, will you stop complaining?”

“Really?!” Shion’s eyes lit up. “Thanks a bunch, sis!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Mamizou watched the comedy act play out from a few paces away, working hard to stifle her laughter. The Yorigami sisters were a peculiar pair, but they’d made a huge impact on the criminal underworld recently. Through a sprawling network of loan sharks and debt collectors, they had scammed the city’s residents out of millions of yen. Mamizou had spent weeks rising through the ranks of their organisation, earning their trust so she could bring them down from the inside.

“Evening, you two.” She took a step closer as she spoke. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

The older sister, Jo’on, was the first one to notice. “Oh, hey. It’s my favourite money lender.” She rubbed her hands together, shooting Mamizou a toothy grin. “You have this month’s payment, right?”

“Of course.” Mamizou held out the briefcase. “Polite, pristine and punctual. That’s our motto at Futatsuiwa Finances.”

Jo’on snatched at the case with rabid fervor. She practically tore the locks open, peeling off the lid to reveal stacks of freshly printed cash. With the other hand she grabbed a wad of notes, bringing it to her nose and sniffing at the paper. Mamizou wasn’t sure if it was to check for authenticity or just because she liked the smell.

“Hey, no fair.” Shion loomed over her sister’s shoulder. “Let me have a feel, sis.”

“So you can lose it like you always do?” Jo’on closed the case once she’d ensured the money was legit. “Not a chance.”

Shion whined, her long blue hair fluttering from an unseen wind. Mamizou tried not to make eye contact with the girl; she knew that beneath that childish exterior was a hardened criminal. If anything, that immature facade made Shion even more frightening than her sister.

“So what’s up with the killer view?” Mamizou asked, her tail rising up behind her head. “I’m used to meeting up in dirty alleyways, not selfie spots.”

“Tonight’s a little different from usual.” Jo’on eyed the rings lining her knuckles. “We have other business here tonight, so I figured it’d be good to multitask.”

Mamizou nodded. “Is that why you brought your car up here?”

“Yeah, we’ve gotta make a few things disappear. Stuff that’d get us into trouble with the police.”

“I see.” Mamizou felt her chest tighten. “Anything I’d be interested in?”

Jo’on’s hand curled up. “You could say that.”

The punch came before Mamizou had time to react. Jo’on’s fist crashed into her gut, knocking the breath out of her lungs. She dropped to her knees, and before she could recover the sisters had her pressed against the ground.

“Hey! What’s the big ide-” A strip of tape was pressed along her mouth. “Mmmph-!!”

“Shut it, pig,” Jo’on spat. “You thought we wouldn’t find out you were playing us?”

Mamizou writhed and flailed, but she couldn’t overpower both girls at once. She heard the tugging of rope behind her as Shion tied up her ankles and wrists with tight and painful knots.

“We don’t like being lied to,” the younger sister said. “Now there’s gonna be consequences.”

“Damn straight.” Jo’on waved the briefcase in front of Mamizou. “Thanks for giving us one last payment, though. We’ll be sure to spend it on something fancy.”

“MMMF!”

Mamizou’s eyes pulled wide open. Now she understood why she’d been called out here. She looked out at the lake below her as Jo’on picked her up, carrying her towards the car.

“Take a seat!” Jo’on said, pulling the door open. “I insist.”

She threw Mamizou onto the back seat, then slammed it shut again. The car wobbled, and Mamizou heard a loud rattling from the trunk. They’d probably filled it with rocks to weigh the car down even further.

“Shion?” Jo’on stepped away, motioning towards the steering wheel. “I’ll let you do the honours.”

Shion’s eyes lit up at the invitation. She floated over to the door in front of Mamizou, reaching inside with one hand. Her arm phased through the window with ghostly ease, and she turned the key to start up the ignition. Once the engine was running, she picked up a brick that had been placed on the driver’s seat.

“Mmmn! Mmnnpphhn!”

Mamizou shook her head violently. She knew exactly where that brick was going, and she didn’t like it. Shion’s ditzy act fell away for a moment, and a wicked smirk rose to her face.

“So long, traitor.” Shion held the brick over the gas pedal. “Say hi to the fish for us.”

She dropped the brick, pulling her arm back as the car rolled forward. Jo’on watched on from the sidelines, giving Mamizou one last wave before she fell out of view.

“ **MRRRMMNNPHHN!!** ”

Mamizou’s muffled cries for help went unheard. She could only flounder in the back seat as the car picked up speed, its engine roaring with a hideous growl.

Then it screeched off of the cliff and into the waters below.

* * *

 

The car hit the lake with a deafening splash. Mamizou flew head first into the back of the driver’s seat with enough force to make her head spin.

“Hrrgh!”

Mamizou grunted in pain. She dropped onto the floor, stars dancing across her vision. By the time she could see straight the car had already dipped below the surface, the engine gurgling to a stop. Cold water trickled through holes in the door frame, clawing at the back of her neck.

_OK, this was NOT part of the plan._

The tanuki focused on controlling her pulse, drawing slow breaths from her nose. She had to stay calm. Panicking would only waste air. She fought down the fire in her blood, calling on years of agency training.

_Right. Step one: get my hands free._

Mamizou tried to pull her wrists apart, dipping her hands in the water to dampen the rope. Even then the fibres were sturdy enough to resist her struggles. Shion might have been a heartless gangster, but she could tie knots like a sailor.

“Mrrmf!”

Mamizou crawled across the floor in a caterpillar motion, edging herself over to the passenger door. The water was already a few inches deep, and outside the last traces of moonlight were fading. She didn’t even want to think about how fast she was sinking.

_If I could just get some leverage…!_

Mamizou pressed her side against the car door, propping herself up with her tail. She rose to a sitting position, tucking her wrists under the door handle. Maybe she could use it to pry the ropes loose.

“Nnf, nn...”

She had to keep herself calm as she felt her way around the handle. There was no time for fear, so she settled for spite instead. She wasn’t going to give those punks the satisfaction of killing her. All she had to do was find the right spot, and-

_There!_

At last Mamizou found a gap in the ropes to slip the handle into. It only gave her a little extra leeway, but that was all the assistance she needed. Escapology was one of the many tricks she’d learned at the agency. She cautiously worked her way out of the binds, letting the rope fall to the floor with a wet thump.

“Haaa-!” Mamizou’s first order of business was to tear away the tape over her mouth. “Dumb brats, thinking they can shut _me_ up.”

Now that her hands were free, she undid the bonds on her ankles without nearly as much trouble. With the last of the light from the surface she reached into her pocket, bringing out her phone and activating the built-in flashlight. The tech geeks had insisted the device was waterproof – she supposed now was the time to put that claim to the test.

By now a third of the car had flooded, and the leaks were only getting bigger. The doors refused to budge; the water pressure outside was too strong for her to overcome. She’d have to crack open a window and swim through.

“Hggh!”

Mamizou slammed her elbow into the glass, but the window barely shook from the impact. She pounded it with her fists, her tail, even her feet, but none of her attacks were enough to even dent it.

“Crap.” A lingering dread swam through her skull. “This had better not be what I think it is.”

To test her theory, Mamizou dipped down into the water. She reached out for the gas pedal, retrieving the brick that Shion had used to weigh it down. Once she’d broken the surface, she wielded it with both hands and thrust the corner into the glass.

As she’d feared, the brick simply bounced off.

“Of course the glass is bulletproof.” Mamizou cursed beneath her breath. “What else was I expecting?”

She ground her teeth together. The water was up to her chest, and at this rate she’d be out of air in less than a minute. All the while she was still sinking, the car dragging her further and further from the surface.

There was only one option left to her. She’d have to wait for the pressure to equalise, open the door and swim to freedom. But that wouldn’t happen until long after the car had flooded, and at this depth she’d never make it to the surface in time.

“Think, Mami, think.” She clutched at her head with both hands. “There’s gotta be something that’ll help you out in here!”

She filled her lungs with stale air, diving down again and swimming to the front seat. She pulled open every compartment she could find, skimming through their contents for inspiration. Trinkets from the Yorigamis’ road trips drifted out into the water – unpaid parking tickets, a mountain of store vouchers, a finished bottle of low-grade wine.

It was the last of these that got Mamizou’s attention. She grabbed the bottle, bringing it back with her as she surfaced into the dwindling air pocket. Holding it upside down, she emptied out the lake water and allowed air to take its place.

“It’s no scuba tank, but it’ll have to do…!”

Mamizou rose as high as she could, gulping down lungfuls of the remaining air. The water rose to her shoulders, her neck, until finally it was tickling at her chin. She whispered a prayer to any gods who happened to be watching, then sucked in the deepest breath she could. As the water engulfed her she wrapped her lips around the neck of the bottle, biting at the glass to hold it in place.

“Hfff...”

Errant bubbles dribbled from Mamizou’s nose as she focused on conserving her oxygen. She aimed her flashlight at the windshield, watching the last trickles of air drift out of the car. This was as easy as opening the door was ever going to get, so she gripped the handle with both hands and heaved.

“Hrrrnnpph!”

Even with the pressure equalised, she still had to fight against the weight of the water. She yanked the handle with sharp and violent tugs, each more desperate than the last. The seconds flew by at a blinding pace, and she was burning through her makeshift air supply.

“Mrrrphh! Hmmnnff!!”

_Come on, you lousy piece of junk! Work already!_

Just when she thought the door might have jammed, Mamizou heard a muffled click. The door creaked open, revealing a long and treacherous path back to the surface. Mamizou leaped at the chance, grabbing the lip of the frame and pushing herself out into the open water. The empty car continued its journey to the lake bed, never to be seen again.

“Hrrf?”

Mamizou looked around. The lake was pitch black and this depth, and she couldn’t even be sure which way was up. To guide her path she pointed the flashlight at herself, blowing another gush of bubbles from her nose. The air made its way to the surface, and Mamizou followed its trail with strong, steady kicks.

Now all she had to do was swim for dear life.

“Mrrghnnf-!”

Mamizou’s chest shuddered as she struggled to breathe from the bottle. Each gasp was shorter and harder than the last, until at last there was no oxygen to be had. She spat the bottle out, relying on what was left in her lungs to carry her.

In the distance, she could make out a glint of moonlight from the surface. It pulled her in like a beacon, growing larger with every stroke. How long had it been? She couldn’t tell. But she had to keep going.

“Glrrbb-!!”

Her chest caved inward, forcing a gush of bubbles from her lips. The icy chill of the lake water seeped into her skin, siphoning at her faltering strength. She could barely move, barely think, barely keep her eyes open. The darkness was calling for her, and it would be so easy to give in to its embrace.

_Just a little further,_ she thought as her eyes fell out of focus. _Just...a little...further…_

 

 

 

 

 

“PuhaAAAAAA-cckk!”

Mamizou broke the surface just as the urge to breathe grew overpowering. She spat out mouthfuls of lake water, rolling onto her back to let her aching body rest. The last of her adrenaline filled her with a joyful afterglow, and in spite of everything there was a dopey smile locked on her face.

“Ha, haa, haa...” The tanuki forced a chuckle as she looked up at the starry sky. “This is gonna make one hell of a story for the cadets.”

It took a few minutes for her to recover her strength, dragging herself over to the shore. The Yorigamis were long gone by now, but that was almost a blessing. She didn’t want them coming back to finish the job, after all.

In another small miracle, her phone was still working just as advertised. She made a note to put in a good word for the engineers as she fired a number into the device.

“Hey, HQ?” she said, flicking the standing water off of her tail. “I need an extraction. And about a dozen towels, if you can spare them.”

Once the car was arranged, Mamizou lowered herself onto the nearest rock she could find. Even by her messed-up standards, that had been a close call. The Yorigami sisters were more dangerous than she had anticipated.

It was a good thing they were also dumb as rocks.

“They’ll be in real trouble once they start spending that marked cash.” She huddled up for warmth as her ride home pulled up. “God, I hope I get to see the looks on their faces...”


End file.
